Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure pertains to a conveyor for unfolding a flat, folded rigid or semi-rigid container blank into a container with a storage volume therewithin.
Description of the Prior Art
The prior art includes containers with a semi-rigid or rigid carton portion and a polymer header, typically including a reclosable element. Such containers are disclosed in PCT applications PCT/US 10/48615; PCT/US 10/48616; PCT/US 10/48617 and PCT/US10/48619, all filed on Sep. 14, 2010 and entitled “Carton With Plastic Reclosable Header”, the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. While these containers, as well as the apparatus and methods for manufacturing them, have been well-adapted for their intended purposes, improvements are sought in the manufacture of these cartons, particularly with respect to increasing manufacturing speed and reliability, along with reducing manufacturing costs. In particular, previously, the unfolding of the folded carton blanks to form a rectangular carton with a storage volume therein was typically performed by placing the folded blanks into a conveyor pocket. At higher manufacturing speeds, this could result in the polymeric header being sucked into the carton as well as lack of control of the direction in which the header folded.